


Warm Winds

by Mareel



Series: Always [27]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Canada, Childhood Memories, Destroy Ending, Family, Flirting, M/M, Orchard, Post-Canon, Post-Mass Effect 3, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-18
Updated: 2015-09-18
Packaged: 2018-04-21 10:09:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4824938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mareel/pseuds/Mareel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Finding a welcome.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Warm Winds

**Author's Note:**

> The takes place approximately 8 months after the Reaper War was won. Shepard and Kaidan have just arrived at orchard in central British Columbia to visit his mother. It is Shepard's voice.

  
_May the warm winds of heaven_  
_blow softly upon this home  
_ – Native American prayer  


 

I've never lived in a house. 

Spaceships, dormitories, barracks, Anderson's fancy apartment on the Citadel, Kaidan's flat in London... never anything like this. 

His mother Elena gave me the grand tour, Kaidan trailing behind us as she introduced me to his childhood home at the orchard. I felt like I was seeing it through three pairs of eyes – hers, his, and mine, with my own view overlaid by imagining a very young Kaidan growing up here. 

Comfortably furnished, but not ostentatious, it's a house to live in, not a model home. As Elena tells it, they kept the flat in Vancouver for when they felt like a little more elegance. 

At its heart is the huge country kitchen, with an oversized stovetop that Kaidan says gets heavy use at harvest time when there's fruit to be processed into jams or cooked down into apple butter. Which happens to taste amazing. I never had any of that before, and it might be my new favorite flavor. 

Elena is making dinner now, shooing Kaidan and I out to the porch that wraps around three sides of the house. Passing up the chairs and benches, he chooses the wide steps that lead down to a small garden with a view of the orchard beyond. Sinking onto the well-worn planks, he draws me down beside him, his arm around my shoulders, smiling. 

"So what do you think?"

"It's nice. I see why you like coming back here. Beautiful view too."

"You're not looking at the view, Shepard. You're looking at me... don't think I didn't catch the approving looks."

"That's part of the view, Alenko. I don't see you in jeans very often." Resting my hand on his thigh, I can't resist one more comment. "I appreciate the opportunity." 

I love that I can still make him blush. 

"Noted, Commander. Always happy to oblige. Maybe I'll bring a few things back to Vancouver with me. Old jeans and sweaters are more comfortable than new ones any day, and we'll blend in better with the locals than if we're wearing our hoodies."

"Seriously – this place is great. I don't have to squint hard to see you running down the stairs here, maybe chasing after a dog... or sitting right here on the steps reading a book. Skinny little kid, all dark hair and serious eyes. Am I right?"

I get a smile and a kiss. "Pretty close... pretty damn close. We had a black lab puppy I kind of grew up with. Max. He was my best friend. Of course, in the winter, we'd have been inside in the library most likely. Or playing some game on the extranet when I was older."

"I knew it. Actually you mentioned having a dog once, but you never told me much about him. I never had pets until the fish... and the hamster. Might be nice to have a dog sometime."

He covers my hand with his. "Plenty of time for that, John. Let's find a place we can call home first... dog needs a yard, I think."

As it gets closer to twilight, a light breeze has come up. It brings with it the smells of earth and grasses, and a light tinkling sound, like little bells. Looking around for the source, I realize it's not far from where we're sitting. There's a wind chime hanging at the corner of the porch. It must have been brass or copper-colored at one time, but it's long since weathered to a verdigris patina that contrasts with its bright tones in the breeze.

Kaidan follows my gaze. "Mom brought that from Singapore. She always said she only needed one reminder of home there. Besides me. I was born there, you know."

"I remember you telling me that... and about the eezo exposure there." I lean my face close to his, foreheads touching. "I'm sure you were a lot more important to her than any wind-chime. When we first got here and were sitting around getting acquainted, her eyes always went to you, like she couldn't get enough of seeing that you really were alive and here."

"Yeah. It's been hard on her, with my dad missing. I'm glad we came, John. It's made her pretty happy, seeing me... and meeting you. She likes you. I can tell."

"How do you know she's not just being polite to a war hero?"

Kaidan's voice is a husky contrast to the sound of the chimes. "Trust me. I can tell. Did you notice anything when she was showing us around the upstairs?"

"Notice what? I guess not."

"When we got to my old room, she opened the door and I saw that she'd replaced the bed. The one in there now is the big bed from the guest room. Mine was a lot smaller. And she looked from me to you and back again when she said 'and here's your room.' So yeah, she's more than fine with us being together."

"Glad to hear it. I wasn't looking forward to having to sneak out to be together."

He takes my face between his hands and nibbles at my lower lip until I open to him, hearing a low moan from one of us... maybe me. Probably me. The man knows how to kiss. But, knowing we're going to have to go inside to dinner shortly, we don't let it deepen into more, tempting as it is. 

Kaidan's eyes look more golden than ever as the sun sinks toward the hills in the distance. His voice is quiet and serious. 

"You know I wouldn't leave you to sleep alone, John. I know the nightmares are fewer now, but you never need to wake up from one alone. I'll be there."

I touch his cheek, nodding. "I love you, Kaidan Alenko. Always."

His smile would have been answer enough, but he adds a few words, the ones I once feared I'd hear only once in my life. 

"I love you too."

__________________________________________________

 


End file.
